Austria scraps statue of Arnie

Ananova.com: Plans to build an 80ft statue of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator character in his Austrian home town have
been scrapped because he's backing President Bush.

The steel abstract design was unveiled in a blaze of publicity last year with public and private backers putting up the
money for the $6 million project. But the southern city of Graz is angry that its most famous son is backing Bush in the
upcoming US election campaign and supported the war in Iraq. Project manager Herwig Hoeller said: "Yes, the project has
been shelved because it no longer has the backing among the population that it had at the start when he was elected".

"I think I must be the only one in this town that still wants the project to go ahead." There are also calls to rename the
Arnold Schwarzenegger football stadium and Graz Deputy Mayor Walter Ferk said the city was also considering taking back an
honorary award of a ring to the governor.

The statue was set to tower over other more traditional statues of lesser recognised individuals such as composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart - or the Austrian Emperor Kaiser Franz Joseph.